32: Upside Down River
Hassayampa River Preserve, Wickenburg, AZ W I C K E N B U R G, A Z From the porch of the visitor’s center, Marty Lawrence blurts out one last bit of advice before I set off alone on the Hassayampa River trail: “Watch out for rattlesnakes; they’ve become very active lately”. For the past half hour, we’ve been discussing very specific details about this preserve I’m about to explore. Did he deliberately wait until I was 20 yards down the trail to drop that snake nugget on me? But then he adds, “Just stay on the trail and you’ll be alright.” Thirty minutes ago, I was parked in the dark at a locked gate off Route 60 south of Wickenburg, Arizona hoping like hell Marty would come through on his promise to meet me there at 6:00 a.m. I was surprised that he so willingly agreed to meet at that ridiculous hour as I was planning this trip. With military precision though, at 0600 hours, Marty was swinging the gate open for me. Literally r...